Nob Hill (1945)

Set in the turn of the century San Francisco, the owner (George Raft) of a popular nightclub on the Barbary Coast in San Francisco finds himself saddled with an orphan (Peggy Ann Garner), just arrived from Ireland. Things get even more complicated when he falls for a Nob Hill socialite (Joan Bennett) thus alienating his saloon singer girlfriend (Vivian Blaine). Based on the story CROCUS HILL by Eleanore Griffin and directed by Henry Hathaway (NORTH TO ALASKA). This mash up of LITTLE MISS MARKER (1934) and SAN FRANCISCO (1936) is pretty stale and George Raft seems out of place in this mixture of sentimentality and Technicolor musical (thanks to Blaine's half dozen songs) but the movie was a big hit. The movie's biggest conflict is who will Raft end up with, the rich but insincere Bennett or the loyal Blaine. Duh! Peggy Ann Garner who gave a lovely performance in A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN is saddled with the saccharine orphan and she comes across as a poor substitute for Shirley Temple. With Alan Reed and B.S. Pully.